Bruno “Puccibull” Pucci is glad to return to the place he called home for seven years.
This coming Friday, 22 November, Pucci will face Japanese warrior Shuya “Stealth” Kamikubo at ONE: EDGE OF GREATNESS inside the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
This marks Pucci’s return to action after six months away from competition. The Hawaii-based Brazilian was not cleared for international travel until the United States immigration service had fully processed his visa application.
He recently got clearance and immediately accepted an offer to compete on the Singapore card.
Despite the short notice, the 29-year-old feels physically and mentally ready for his Singapore showdown.
“Every training camp that Christian and Angela went through, I did it together with them, so I have been training all year round,” Pucci said.
“Physically and mentally I’m feeling ready and prepared for this fight.”
This will also be Pucci’s first match in “The Lion City” since his bout in January. After six years of competing in Singapore, “Puccibull” moved to Hawaii in 2018 to join his wife, ONE Women’s Atomweight World Champion, “Unstoppable” Angela Lee.
“I have two weeks before I fly out to Singapore, so it’s a pretty short training camp. I’m not really training anything in particular because this is a short-notice fight, but I’m re-adjusting and sorting out which tools I’m going to use to face Kamikubo,” Pucci explained.
Having researched his opponent, he knows “Stealth” will be hunting for the finish, but not before he pulls off one of his own.
“I watched a couple of his fights before. He’s a grappler, he’s a grinder who goes for the win. He likes to pressure forward, take you down, and drain your energy while he goes for the finish,” Pucci said.
“I’m always aiming for the finish, and I never want to leave it in the hands of the judges. I want to make this as quick as possible, so I’m aiming for the first-round TKO.”
The Evolve MMA and United MMA athlete is coming off two huge wins – both first-round finishes including a rear-naked choke submission win over former ONE Lightweight World Champion Kotetsu Boku.
“I always want to have defining fights whenever I compete. I come from a grappling background and that’s what I want to do,” Pucci said.
“In all my last 10 career fights, I have never gone to three full rounds. That’s something I worked for, and I am really confident that I will go for another first-round finish this time.”
Pucci, who used to compete at featherweight, will make his bantamweight debut against Kamikubo.
The 29-year-old did not change his training regimen and believes dropping down a weight class will not affect his performance on event day.
“I decided to move down because of the volume of training here. We have been training a lot the whole year and so my walk-on weight was pretty low. I was walking too light, so I decided to give a shot at bantamweight,” he said.
“Now as the fight gets closer, I’m going to get more cardio sessions done which will help me out with the weight descend. But at the same time, it will help with my preparation for the fight as well, so I think it’s going to be the best cardio ever compared to my last fight.”
Pucci looks forward to meeting his Japanese rival in the ring and is pleased to perform in front of his Singapore fans again.
“I’m glad that I can face him. I think he’s a tough fight. I respect all Japanese fighters. They have a great spirit and mentality. They bring everything they have. They don’t give up easily, so I’m super happy to be facing a fighter like that,” Pucci said.
“It’s going to bring out the best in me. I’m sure we will both put on a heck of a show for all the fans in Singapore.”
Check out ONE Championship’s next event ONE: AGE OF DRAGONS, this Friday, 16 November.
The preliminary card begins on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube – and the ONE Super App – at 5:00pm Singapore Standard Time (SGT).
To watch the main card, tune-in to Toggle at 6:30pm SGT. Also, Channel 5 will show a special delayed telecast at 12:00am SGT on Sunday, 17 November.
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